On
the morning of the 15th of May, I arrived at Vereeniging with some of the
Free State delegates. The others were already there, together with the
thirty Transvaal delegates, Commandant-General Louis Botha and General De la
Rey. In addition to the above, the following had also arrived: Vice-State
President Burger, States-President Steyn, the members of the two
Governments, and General J.C. Smuts (from Cape Colony).
I
was exceedingly sorry to find that President Steyn was seriously ill. For
the last six weeks he had been in the doctor's hands; and, since his arrival
at Pretoria, had been under the care of Dr. Van der Merwe, of Krugersdorp.
This physician said that serious consequences might ensue if his patient
were to attend our meetings, and advised him to go to his home at
Krugersdorp, where he could be properly nursed. It was sad for us to receive
this news immediately we arrived. We asked ourselves what we should do
without the President at our meetings? At this moment he seemed more
indispensable to us than ever before.
President Steyn was a statesman in the best sense of the word. He had gained
the respect and even the affection of us all. Of him, if of any man, it may
be said that he never swerved from his duty to his country. No task was too
great for him, no burden too heavy, if thereby he could serve his people.
Whatever hardships he had endured, he had never been known to complain—he
would endure anything for us. He had fought in our cause until he could
fight no longer, until sickness laid him low; and he was worn out, and weak
as a child. Weak, did I say? Yes! but only in the body—his mind was still as
strong, as brave, as clear as ever.
And thus it was that President Steyn was only able to be present on two
occasions at our meetings; for, on the 29th of May—before the National
Representatives had come to any decision—he went with Dr. Van der Merwe to
Krugersdorp.
As
I write these lines—six months after the meetings at Vereeniging—and think
that during all the intervening time he has been lying on a bed of
sickness—I am cheered by the news which I received in Holland that hopes are
now entertained of his ultimate recovery.
The National Representatives began their important deliberations on the
morning of the 13th of May, 1902.
For three days we discussed the condition of our country, and then proceeded
with Lord Kitchener and Lord Milner to Pretoria. This Commission was
composed of Commandant-General L. Botha, Commander-in-Chief C.R. de Wet,
Vice-Commandant-General J.H. De la Rey, Vice-Commander-in-Chief Judge J.B.M.
Hertzog, and States-Procureur J.C. Smuts.
The negotiations with the representatives of the British Government
continued from the 18th to the 29th of May; and upon their conclusion the
Commission communicated to the National Representatives the terms on which
England was prepared to conclude peace.
On
May the 31st we decided to accept the proposals of the English
Government.[110] The Independence of the two Republics was at an end!
I
will not attempt to describe the struggle it cost us to accept these
proposals. Suffice it to say that when it was over, it had left its mark on
every face.
There were sixty of us there, and each in turn must answer Yes or No. It was
an ultimatum—this proposal of England's.
What were we to do? To continue the struggle meant extermination. Already
our women and children were dying by the thousand, and starvation was
knocking at the door—and knocking loudly!
In
certain districts, such as Boshof and Hoopstad, it was still possible to
prolong the war, as was also the case in the districts of Generals Brand and
Nieuwouwdt, where the sheep and oxen, which had been captured from the
enemy, provided an ample supply of food. But from the last-named districts
all the women and children had departed, leaving the burghers free to wander
at will in search of food—to Boshof, to Hoopstad, and even into the Colony.
In
other parts of the Free State things were very different. In the
north-eastern and northern districts—for instance, in Ladybrand, Winburg,
Kroonstad, Heilbron, Bethlehem, Harrismith and Vrede—there were still many
families, and these could not be sent to Boshof or to Hoopstad or to the
Colony. And when, reduced to dire want, the commandos should be obliged to
abandon these districts, their wives and families would have to be left
behind—to starve!
The condition of affairs in the Transvaal was no better. We Free-Staters had
thought—and I, for one, had supported the view at Vereeniging—that, before
sacrificing our independence, we ought to tell the owners of these farms,
where there were still women and children, to go and surrender with their
families, and thus save them from starvation. But we soon realized that such
a course was not practicable—it would involve the loss of too many burghers.
Moreover, even if, by some such scheme as this, we had succeeded in saving
the women, we, who remained in the field, would still have been exposed to
the dangers of starvation, for many of us, having no horses, could not have
left want behind us, by removing to Cape Colony or some other equally
prosperous region.
In
the large eastern divisions of the Transvaal also, there were many burghers
without horses, while the poor jaded creatures that remained were far too
feeble and exhausted to carry their masters into Cape Colony, without the
certainty of being captured by the enemy.
Our forces were now only twenty thousand in all, of which the Transvaal
supplied ten thousand, the Free State six thousand, while the remainder came
from Cape Colony. But our numerical weakness would not in itself have caused
us to abandon the struggle had we but received encouraging news from the
Colony. But alas! reports which we received from there left us no room for
hope.
No
room for hope! that was the message of Vereeniging—a message which struck a
chill in every heart. One after another we painted the destitution, the
misery of our districts, and each picture was more gloomy than the last. At
length the moment of decision came, and what course remained open to us?
This only—to resign ourselves to our fate, intolerable though it appeared,
to accept the British proposal, and to lay down our arms.
Most bitter of all was the thought that we must abandon our brethren in Cape
Colony and in Natal, who had thrown in their lot with ours. And many a
sleepless night has this caused me. But we could not help ourselves. There
was nothing else to do.
And as things have turned out, may we not hope that the Cape and Natal
Governments, following in the wake of the British Nation, will soon
understand that the wiser course is to forgive and forget, and to grant as
comprehensive an amnesty as possible? It is surely not unjust to expect this
of these Governments, when one remembers that whatever the Colonists may
have done, must be ascribed to the tie that binds them to us—the closest of
all ties—that of blood.
It
is now for the two Governments to strive to realize the situation, and then,
by granting a general amnesty, to promote, as far as in them lies, the true
progress of South Africa.
________________________________________
On
the evening of the 31st of May, 1902, the members of the Government of both
Republics met Lord Kitchener and Lord Milner, in the former's house, at
Pretoria.
It
was there that the Treaty of Peace—the British Proposal which the National
Representatives had accepted—was now to be signed.
It
was a never-to-be-forgotten evening. In the space of a few short minutes
that was done which could never be undone. A decision arrived at in a
meeting could always be taken into reconsideration, but a document solemnly
signed, as on that night, by two parties, bound them both for ever.
Every one of us who put his name to that document knew that he was in honour
bound to act in accordance with it. It was a bitter moment, but not so
bitter as when, earlier on the same day, the National Representatives had
come to the decision that the fatal step must be taken.
On
the 2nd June, 1902, the Representatives left Vereeniging, and returned every
man to his own commando. It was now their sad duty to tell their brave and
patient burghers that the independence which they cherished so dearly was
gone, and to prepare them to surrender their arms at the appointed places.
I
left Pretoria on the 3rd of June with General Elliott, who had to accompany
me to the various centres to receive the burghers' arms.
On
the 5th of June the first commando laid down their weapons near Vredefort.
To every man there, as to myself, this surrender was no more and no less
than the sacrifice of our independence. I have often been present at the
death-bed and at the burial of those who have been nearest to my
heart—father, mother, brother and friend—but the grief which I felt on those
occasions was not to be compared with what I now underwent at the burial of
my Nation!
It
was at Reitz that the commandos of Vrede, Harrismith, Heilbron and Bethlehem
laid down their arms. Accordingly I went there on the 7th of June, and again
had to be a spectator of what I fain would never have witnessed. Had I then
to go on from commando to commando, to undergo everywhere the martyrdom of
beholding ceaseless surrenders? No! I had had enough, and could bear no
more. I decided, therefore, to visit all the other commandos, in order to
acquaint the burghers with what had taken place, and to explain to them why
we, however unsatisfactory the Peace Proposal was, had felt bound to accept
it, and then to leave each commando before the men handed over their arms to
General Elliott. Everywhere I found the men utterly despondent and
dissatisfied.
The whole miserable business came to an end on the 16th of June, when the
burghers who had fought under Generals Nieuwouwdt and Brand, laid down their
arms—the Nation had submitted to its fate!
There was nothing left for us now but to hope that the Power which had
conquered us, the Power to which we were compelled to submit, though it cut
us to the heart to do so, and which, by the surrender of our arms, we had
accepted as our Ruler, would draw us nearer and ever nearer by the strong
cords of love.
________________________________________
To
my Nation I address one last word.
Be
loyal to the new Government! Loyalty pays best in the end. Loyalty alone is
worthy of a Nation which has shed its blood for Freedom!
[110] A complete report of the various proceedings in connexion with the
conclusion of peace will be found in the Appendix of this book.
